Yorkshire Bryologists at Pliimpton. 
T 34 
Mr. Kosse Butterfield exhibited an unusual variety of the Snipe, 
procured in Ireland. 
Mr. Fortune proposed a new member to the Union : — Rev. W. Pearson, 
Spofforth Rectory. Mr. W. H. Parkin gave a short paper on the ‘ Cuckoo,’ 
supplementary to the former discussion on its parasitical breeding habits. 
Sir. E. \V. Wade and Mr. E. W. Taylor gave two papers, illustrated 
by lantern slides, on ‘ Further notes on the Stone Curlew,’ and ‘ The 
Home-life of the Merlin,’ respectively, which appear on other pages. 
Professor W. Garstang, with the aid of numerous diagrams and other 
slides, gave a lucid summary of the work done by the International 
Commission appointed to enquire and report on the North Sea Fisheries. 
Many hitherto unknown features and stages in the life-history of the 
Plaice, Herring, Eel, Cod, Haddock, and Mackerel were determined ; 
such as the annual migrations, the influence of temperature, sunshine, 
salinity, etc., on the productivity and status of the various species. 
Mr. H. B. Booth brought for comparison skins of British and Con- 
tinental forms of the Jay; Marsh, Coal and Great Tits; Robin, and Bull- 
finch, with explanatory details of the variations classified by Dr. Hartert. 
The members were indebted to the Hon. Walter Rothschild, of Tring, for 
the loan of these, and to Dr. Hartert, through whose kindness they were 
•exhibited. P 
Vote of thanks to the lecturers and to Mr. Graham of the Leeds 
Education Office, for the use of the room was heartily carried. 
A. Haigh Lumby. 
YORKSHIRE BRYOLOGISTS AT PLUMPTON. 
The Bryological Section of the Yorkshire Naturalists Union had a 
profitable excursion, under the guidance of Mr. R. Barnes, to Plumpton 
Rocks on Saturday, 21st March. 
On the walls at the entrance to the park he pointed out Hypnum 
hispidulum var. Sommerfeltii — a moss quite new to most of the members — 
and also one or two of the smaller hepatics which will require more careful 
inspection before naming definitely. 
The Rocks proved of peculiar interest. Here was found an association 
of mosses which could not be correlated by any of the members with a 
similar gathering-ground. The species found dominating the rock-surfaces 
are generally sought for most carefully and found in small patches, the 
most striking being sheets of Ortliodontium gracile — one of the rarest 
mosses in the kingdom — the usual thing being an abundance of Dicrauella 
heteromalla, but here this was absent, or at least only sparsely represented. 
Occasionally its var. Serecia was seen. 
A more frequent moss, and one that might be expected, was Campy- 
lopus flexuosus. The third in importance, Cynodontium Bruntoni, seemed 
partial to parts of the rocks more exposed to westerly winds and in the 
large crevices between the rock masses. Tetrapis pellucida practically 
completed the moss list on the rocks, with one or two hepatics, Lophozia 
ventricosa, L. gracilis, Lepidozia reptans, and Sphenolobus exsectceformis. 
On the sandy soil Pleuridium subulatum was seen, and in other 
situations U'ebera nutans, Bryum capillare, and Tortnla ruralis. 
The feature of the place is the great amount of Orthodontiuin gracile. ■ 
To those who know how little can be found in its best-known habitat at 
Bolton Woods it was a source of amazement, and in a county so well 
worked as our own its abundance was scarcely credible. It has been 
found at Birk Crag in small quantity by Mr. L. Cocks, but this and 
Bolton were our only records. — C. A. Cheetham. 
Naturalist, 
